THE Ministry of Health will spend about $2million every year for the next three years to recruit 170 extra nurses annually.
The plan, which begins next year, was expected to include recruitment of 50 nurses annually from the TISI Sangam Private Nursing School.
These details were provide by ministry spokesman, Iliesa Tora, who confirmed the shift in policy to now allow graduates of the Sangam School programme a better chance at public service employment. In the past, nurses for the public service were mostly recruited from the Fiji School of Nursing.
He said the moves were being undertaken to meet the healthcare demands of the people of Fiji.
In February next year, 95 nurses are expected to graduate from the Fiji School of Nursing, with 58 graduating from the TISI Sangam School of Nursing.
"A total of 104 registered nurses had retired in April this year after the reduction of the retirement age to 55 years, with only 30 approved for re-engagement," he said.
He said ongoing retirement of nurses reaching 55 years of age, at an average of six per month, created further vacancies in the nursing establishment.
"Almost 60 nurses leave the service annually for different reasons," he said.
Mr Tora said having an adequate number of skilled and qualified nurses to provide quality and cost-effective health care in the country was crucial.
Meanwhile, he said the ministry was also keen to utilise training resources at the TISI Sangam Nursing School, including courses in midwifery, public health and nurse practitioner training for the Northern division.
Mr Tora said the programme would see nurses from the North interested in the three courses attended training at the Sangam institution, with practical lessons at the Labasa Hospital.
"The program will also see trainee nurses getting the opportunity to do internships at the rural and urban health facilities in the North as replacement for those nurses who will be identified for training," he said.
He said the end result was expected to be a lot of nurses with raised skill levels who could be absorbed into the workforce to serve the people of Fiji.
